A Mummy for Norbert
by slightlysmall
Summary: Sure, young Norbert made a bit of a mess of the place, and had the inconvenient habit of breathing fire. The poor fella was so young yet, and didn't know any better, after all. No mummy could be better than he was, anyway. That was certain.


**A/N: Written for the Pet Competition on the HPFC. I used the prompts "fairy tale," "orange," and "snowball." Also for the Word Count Drabble Challenge 2, with the word count of 655.**

Perhaps it was a bit unwise, dealing with that mysterious hooded creature at the Hog's Head. Perhaps a few drinks went too quickly to Hagrid's tongue, or his hands were too quick to place a bet on the hand he was dealt. But as he sat tending the fire where his precious dragon's egg lay, Hagrid couldn't bring himself to care. Some things were more precious than a slip of the tongue, after all. What harm could a word about Fluffy do? No outsider could get anywhere near the third corridor, anyway. Fluffy would be perfectly safe. (Wasn't that the information he exchanged? Perhaps he'd had one too many Firewhiskeys after all.)

But even a few weeks later, when his umbrella got more use than was strictly allowed, he couldn't bring himself to care. Sure, young Norbert made a bit of a mess of the place, and had the inconvenient habit of breathing fire. The poor fella was so young yet, and didn't know any better, after all. No mummy could be better than he was, anyway. That was certain. ("You do realize your house is made of wood," Harry had said. Of course he realized it. Maybe Harry didn't realize that some things were more important than houses.)

"Come here an' settle in then, Norbert," Hagrid said, sinking into his oversized chair and holding out a slab of red meat in his hand. The creature across the room hiccuped, a bit of fire escaping his mouth, then hopped over and swallowed the meat whole. "Yeh know yer mummy so well, Norbert! There's a good boy! But it's nearin' yer bedtime. Come on then, I'll read you a fairy tale."

Hagrid grabbed a book from nearby and picked it up, reading Babbity Rabbity to his pet, making sure to get the voices right. He smiled to himself, thrilled as Norbert's eyelids began to droop, curled up there at his feet. Norbert perked up, looked Hagrid directly in the eye, and sneezed, fire blowing out of his mouth and engulfing Beedle the Bard in flames. Umbrella in hand, he doused the book in water and threw it aside, making sure his own hands and clothes were unaffected by the flame. They weren't, of course, but his skin was thick. It would heal with time. "There, there, yeh didn't mean to, did yeh? But all the same, it would be better if yeh'd sneeze snowballs instead of fireballs, mind."

A quick pat of Norbert's head, and Hagrid would have sworn his dragon smiled. Like Fang, Norbert turned three circles on his blanket before settling in for his nap. Like Fang, Hagrid was sure his little dragon dreamed - the way his legs moved and nostrils flared in his sleep made that obvious. But Fang himself didn't seem to see the comparisons - or if he did, he wasn't too happy about them. Hagrid's camaraderie with his newest creature seemed to put the dog into a bad mood, staying as far away from the poor harmless dragon as he could, and cuddling up to Hagrid's side far more than usual when Norbert was sleeping. Admittedly, more often than not, Hagrid found Fang's drool more inconvenient than the blackened marks all over the wooden floor.

Like most of his pets, Norbert needed to stretch his legs, go on walks. But Hagrid knew better than to let him out during the day. Hogwarts students wouldn't know what to do around the poor creature and might scare him. Hagrid woke up in the middle of the night to wake his dragon. The dark cloak of night disguised him perfectly, and for an hour or so, Norbert romped around the forbidden forest. His orange bursts of flame only charred Hagrid once or twice, though the trees didn't do so well. _Being a mummy is tough_, Hagrid thought, _but his childhood will be over soon enough, and I'll be sure to miss it._


End file.
